


Highschool Universe

by MelodySnowflakeVA



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst and Drama, Best Friends, F/M, Friendship, Gen, High School, Male-Female Friendship, Slice of Life, Teenage Drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:28:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24437440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodySnowflakeVA/pseuds/MelodySnowflakeVA
Summary: In thisAlternate universe, Steven and the gemsAre humans. Some are students, some our teachers,And Steven's mother is still with them. On his first day of highschool, Steven found that a mysterious girl named Lapis LazuliDidn't have any friends and that his new classmates, despite wanting to do so, were unsure on how to approach her. Peridot tries, but Lapis appears to be more distant with her than with anyone else. What was their history? Why is she so distant from everyone? What about the Diamonds? What is their story and what roles will they play? And who, who on earth is Jasper? Can Steven find out and help Bring everyone together? Or will all their clashing personalities and backstories lead to their inevitable downfall?
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	1. The mystery girl

Steven turned back to face his Dad as he approached the school gates. "Thanks Dad! I'll see you later!" he called. "You sure you'll be alright?" his Dad asked. "I'll be ok, don't worry," Steven assured him. "Besides, Mum's teaching one of my classes isn't she?" His Dad nodded. "Well ok, I'll see you when you get home. You sure you don't want me to pick you up?" he asked.  
"I'm sure, I'll just wait for Mum," Steven said. "See you later!"

He watched his dad get back into his van and drive away. Then, after one last wave, he walked into his new highschool. Steven was not a shy kid, in fact he was excited to meet the other kids his age. He skipped along the halls, searching for his new classroom.

The school was a double building. On Steven's side it was a five-story structure that was basically the entire highschool part of the school. The second half of the building was also a five-story structure where younger middle school students went to. The two sections were parcially connected by corridors on the upper floors. On the ground floor, between the two large structures was a large field. A rectangular patch of grass stretched from one end of the field to the other down a gentle slope, and tall trees grew around its perimeter. Steven glanced briefly at the field as he passed before turning into the next corridor. 

One flight of stairs later and Steven found himself in his new classroom. He took a seat near the front of the room and looked around. Everyone appeared to be chatting. The girl next to him looked up from the tablet she was holding and waved. Steven waved back, not really knowing who she was. In fact, he did not know who anyone here was just yet.

The sound of laughter from behind him caught his attention. "Hey Peridot!" a girl's voice called. Steven turned. The girl in question was addressing the one who had just waved to him. Peridot turned to the girl, pocketing her tablet as she did so. "Oh hey Amethyst," she replied with a grin. "Did you have a good summer?" "Eh pretty good," Amethyst said, shrugging. "Pearl came over for a sleepover and almost had a mental breakdown over the state of my room, but that's alright." "I did not," said a third girl. She was seated on the other side of Steven.

Steven turned to his left to see who the speaker was. "Um hi," he said, smiling at Pearl. Pearl turned her attention away from Amethyst as the latter continued her conversation with Peridot. "Oh hello there," Pearl said, returning Steven's smile. "My name's Steven," Steven said, introducing himself. "You must be Pearl." "Yes I am," Pearl said matter-of-factly, nodding. "Is it your first day here too?" "Yeah," Steven said inthusiastically. "Do you know each other?" Steven continued, gesturing at the other two girls. "Well yes, Amethyst and Peridot have been friends since middle school and I've known Garnet and Amethyst since we were in allimentary school." "Who's Garnet?" Steven asked, looking around the classroom. Pearl gestured to the girl sitting behind her. She seemed to be the tallest out of all of them, and she was sitting with her arms crossed and a faint smile on her face. She appeared to be deep in thought. "Hi!" Steven called to her. Garnet turned to him, appearing to come out of her train of thought. "Oh hello," she said. "I'm Steven," he said extending a hand. Garnet took it and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you," she said, letting go. Steven grinned excitedly. He was making some new friends!

The classroom door opened. Steven turned to face it, expecting to see a teacher. Instead, a girl in a blue dress walked in. She made her way to the empty seat behind Peridot and sat down. Steven noticed that she appeared a little hesitant and uncertain as she did so. When he smiled at her, she returned it shyly before pulling out a small notebook from her bag. Avoiding eye contact with anyone, the girl began sketching on one of the pages. 

"Who's that?" Steven whispered to no one in particular. Amethyst, who had just ended her conversation with Peridot heard him. "Oh her?" she asked, glancing at the newcomer. "That's Lapis Lazuli. She's a bit of a mystery." "What do you mean?" Steven asked, looking over to Lapis. She seemed ordinary to him. Pearl sighed. "Well there's nothing wrong with her," she said. "It's just no one really knows much about her." "She keeps to herself a lot," Garnet said quietly. "Who knows what she's like." "Peridot tries to talk to her all the time," Amethyst said. "But she doesn't seem to want to talk." "Maybe there's been something on her mind?" Steven suggested. He looked over at Lapis again. She appeared to be colouring the sketch she had just made, but her eyes were not fully focused on the paper. Something told Steven that she could hear every word they were saying about her. "I'll go talk to her at lunch," he decided. "No," Pearl said immediately. "I mean, I dont know," she added. "It's Steven's decision," Garnet said flatly. "I'm sure she isn't that bad," Steven said confidently. "Just give her a chance." "We tried, but we can't seem to get through to her," Pearl said rather sadly. "It's almost like she doesn't want to be around us," Amethyst said. "She always seemed rather distant," Garnet added.

"Hey," Peridot hissed, "You guys talking about Lazuli again?" Steven turned to her. "Do you know her?" he asked. "Do I know her?" Peridot repeated, then paused. "No," she admitted, shaking her head with a sigh. Was that a bit of sadness in her voice? "But I want to get to know her," she added quickly. "You should," Steven encouraged. "Maybe go up to her and say hello. We should all do that." "She avoids everyone though," Amethyst said. "And she doesn't laugh at any of my jokes." "Not everyone has to have the same sense of humour you do," Garnet pointed out. "Oh you just got burned!" Peridot laughed. "It's just, I don't know I guess I'm just not sure how to bond with her," Amethyst said. "It's not like we never tried," Pearl added. "But we just kinda..."  
"You didn't just give up, did you?" Steven asked. The others exchanged slightly guilty looks, but quickly turned back to Steven. "Peridot hasn't," Garnet said quietly. "She's constantly trying, but Lapis is probably even more distant with her than with anyone else." "They didn't exactly get along very well back in the day," Pearl explained. "Why? What happened?" Steven asked. "Well, Peridot's history with her is..." Pearl began, but decided not to finish that sentence. "What?" Steven pressed. Peridot looked away. "It's nothing," she said. "I'd rather not remember those days." "Those days?" Steven asked. "How long have you all known each other?" "All five of us? Since middle school I guess," Amethyst shrugged. "Oh look, here comes the teacher." 

Steven, following Amethyst's gaze looked to the door where he recognised, to his slight surprise his Mum making her way into the classroom. So this was the class she would be teaching, Steven thought. She smiled at Steven before addressing the class as a whole. "Good morning class! Welcome to your first day! My name's Pink Diamond, but I'd rather be known as my chosen identity of Rose Quartz." She let out a laugh before continuing. "You may all address me as Ms. Quartz, or as most people like to call me, Mrs. Universe. It's your choice." She smiled at each of the students. "Now before we begin, I'm just going to go through a list of all your names just to see if you're all here." She started listing off the names of everyone in the classroom one by one.

Amethyst looked around at the whole class as Mrs Universe began checking everyone's attendence. "Good thing Jasper isn't in our class," she said under her breath. "Who's Jasper?" Steven asked. "Someone you'd rather not meet," came the reply from behind him. Steven looked around, wondering who had spoken. It wasn't Amethyst's voice, nor Garnet's. 

His eyes fell on Lapis, who blushed in embarrassment upon being discovered. Steven realised that this was the first time she had spoken throughout this entire conversation. "Why not?" he asked. Lapis lowered her gaze. "Nothing," she said quietly. "But really, you don't wanna meet her." Steven decided to just take her word for it.

Peridot gave Lapis a side glance, then looked at Steven. "It's complicated," she mumbled. Was that a slight look of guilt on her face? Steven decided not to question her, but he silently wondered if Jasper had something to do with "those days" that Peridot would rather not recall. 

When Mrs Universe finished calling out everyone's names, she smiled at the class before beginning her lesson. Steven had to admit, his mum was a very good teacher. Even on their first day, she warmed up to the class instantly and brought a fun touch to learning. He could see his classmates were enjoying his mum's amusing jokes and lively nature. Pearl in particular seemed very keen upon impressing her, volunteering to answer questions more than once. Steven had the feeling that Pearl was going to end up being one of his mum's favourite students.

Her lesson flew by before he knew it, and soon enough, Steven found that he had made it through his first morning of highschool. His teachers were relatively nice, though none of the others had the same lively nature to their lessons as his mum did. Garnet seemed to be the most focused out of his new friends. She would sit quietly at her desk in every lesson and silently take in what was being taught. She would contribute to conversations happening around her, but only occationally. She never started any new conversations unless it was to discuss the topic they were covering. Pearl was the second most focused. Though she would strike up conversations every now and then, she would take notes on the lessons and, if given a chance, answer a few questions. Amethyst was a little more distracted. She would make a few jokes whenever she could, and start conversations with almost everyone around her. She would still note some things down though, but she wasn't as detailed or tidy as Pearl. By the end of third period, her desk was covered in random pieces of paper and stationery. Peridot was a little more focused than Amethyst. She was just as chatty, but she would also have her eyes on the board and would appear to take in the information taught. And then there was Lapis. Steven had not spoken to her since first period, but from what he noticed, she appeared to be listening and noting things down. However, unlike Garnet, Lapis did not seem keen on talking to the people around her. She kept her eyes on her work, occationally letting out a giggle if a teacher or classmate made a funny joke. All in all though, she appeared too hesitant or afraid to interact with the people around her. It wasn't too obvious, but Steven could see that she was trying her best to be in the moment without interacting with her peers. This just made him even more curious about her. He silently promised himself that he would approach her at lunch. He sat through his lessons, patiently waiting for their lunchbreak so he could do just that.

The lunch bell finally rang, and Steven quickly packed his things and stood. "Hey Stevo, wanna join us for lunch?" Amethyst called as she too stood at her desk. Steven hesitated, looking over at Lapis. She appeared to be hesitating too, but upon hearing Amethyst's invitation to Steven, she quickly gathered up her things and exited the classroom. "Wait," he called after her, but his voice was lost in the chatter of the other students. He sighed, trying to figure out which way she went. Someone laid a hand on his shoulder. He glanced around and saw that Peridot was right next to him. "Don't worry," she said, in a tone that suggested she was used to this. "I'll find her. You just go with the others."  
"Are you sure?" Steven asked. "Yeah, just go ahead I'll catch up," she said. With that, she too hurried out of the classroom after Lapis. Consoling himself that Lapis would be alright, Steven set his concerns aside and looked towards his new friends. "I'm coming," he said to Amethyst. "Let's go see what food this school has to offer!"

Ten minutes later, Steven found himself sitting at a lunch table with Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl. Pearl was busy telling everyone a funny story from her childhood while Steven enjoyed a ham and cheese sandwich. When she was done, he started sharing stuff about himself. He started off by telling them simple things, such as his birthday and where he went to middle school. 

"We studied at the middle school on the other side of this building," Pearl informed him, pointing out the cafeteria window at the separate building that connected to their highschool. "You guys are lucky you've been able to go to the same school for so many years," Steven said. "My friends from middle school all went to different highschools." "Do you still keep in touch with them?" Amethyst asked. "Yeah," Steven replied. "We're actually planning to meet up this weekend to hang out." "Sounds fun," Amethyst said. "What about you guys? Do you have any plans to hang out with each other outside of school?" "Not yet," Pearl said. Amethyst looked over at Pearl and grinned. "Hey we should all go over to my place sometime soon," she suggested. "No," Pearl said quickly, shaking her head. 

Amethyst laughed. "You just dont wanna deal with any of my messes any time soon," she teased. "It's not that," Pearl protested, "I was just thinking that maybe I could invite you this time." "I'm in," Garnet said. "That's great, I could show you the new recipee I've been working on!" Pearl replied enthusiastically. "Recipee?" Steven asked. "Pearl likes baking," Garnet replied with a small smile. "Wait you have a new recipee?" Amethyst asked. "Yes I do," Pearl said proudly. "It's a cookie recipee, it shouldn't take too long to bake. We could play a board game while we wait."  
"Or watch a movie," Amethyst said. "I rented some new ones yesterday. I think there's one you'd all like."  
"Sounds like you guys are gonna have a blast," Steven said. "Would you like to come, Steven?" Pearl asked. "Me?" Steven asked, surprised. "Yeah, you should join us!" Amethyst said eagerly. "Are you sure?" Steven asked uncertainly. "I don't wanna interupt your time together." "You won't," Amethyst assured him. "Besides," Garnet added, "It's great to have a new friend on board." 

Steven felt his excitement growing. "Really?" he asked. "Take the chance before we change our mind," Amethyst said with a playful grin. "Amethyst!" Pearl began. "I'm kidding," Amethyst replied. "Relax P."  
"Well if you're sure," Steven said, looking from Pearl, to Garnet to Amethyst. They all nodded reassuringly. "In that case," Steven said, "then sure! When are we doing this?" "Are you free this Sunday?" Pearl asked. "Yeah! The meet up with my middle school friends is on Saturday." "Great," Pearl beamed, turning to the others. "What about you?"  
"Sunday works for me," Garnet said, pulling out her phone and keying the date down. "Me too," Amethyst agreed. "Wait," Steven said, realising something. "How will I know where to go?" "I'll send you an address," Pearl said with a reassuring smile. "Do you have a phone?" Steven nodded, pulling it out from his pocket.

As Steven and Pearl exchanged numbers, the sound of footsteps caught their attention. Steven looked up after typing the last diget to see Peridot coming towards them. She looked excited, but also a little concerned. "Peridot!" Steven called as she approached. "Steven!" she cried, reaching his side. "I found her!"  
"Did you talk to her?" he asked. "I tried," she said. "Lost cause?" Pearl asked empathetically, as though it was nothing new. "No," Peridot replied, catching her breath. "What?" the others cried with a hint of excitement.  
Peridot took a seat next to Steven before telling them her story. "I asked her if she was ok and she said she was fine, then I told her that steven wanted to talk to her. At first she seemed a little nervous, but then..." Peridot excitedly pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket. It looked like a page ripped out of a notebook. "She told me to give you this, Steven," she finished.  
Steven took the paper curiously and glanced at its contents. A small, simple map had been sketched onto the page along with a short message. It read:

"Hi Steven, my name's Lapis. I'm sorry I didn't stick around to talk earlier, but if you'd still like to talk to me I'll be at the benches near the school library at lunchbreak tomorrow. Here's a map to that location from the cafeteria. Please come alone, and please, don't tell anyone what this note says. Thank you.

Lapis Lazuli" >


	2. Lapis Lazuli

Steven walked along the crowded school corridors, his eyes on a small piece of paper in his hands. The map Lapis had drawn him was quite easy to understand, and as he approached the corridors leading towards the library, the crowd began to thin. It was lunchbreak of the second day of school and, following the note he was given yesterday, Steven was eager to find Lapis at the location she specified. He had told his friends that he was going to meet her, and they had wished him luck just before he left. In his schoolbag were two sandwiches he had taken from the cafeteria before walking to the library. One was for himself, the other was for Lapis in case she was hungry and needed something. She was skipping out on lunch after all.

Steven made a right turn, than a left. The crowd was certainly thinning now, only about a dozen students romed this part of the school. There were no teachers in sight. He passed several empty classrooms and made a final right turn. Up ahead, slightly towards the left was a door marked "library". To his right, several benches surrounded a bunch of tables opposite to where the library was. Books were piled randomly on some table tops, while others were completely empty. Looking around, Steven saw no other students in the area. Where was Lapis?

The corridor was quiet, with the sound of birds chirping outside the corridor windows being the only noise. "Hmmm where could she be?" Steven thought to himself as he made his way down the line of tables and benches. "Lapis?" he called, his voice barely above a whisper. He did not want to disrupt the silence of this place. There was no answer. Steven started feeling a little self-conscious. What if someone came out of the library and found him wondering around here alone? Would he look suspicious? Steven glanced at the note Lapis had written him. Yes, he was sure he was at the right place, so where was she?

Movement from one of the side tables caught his eye. The table in question was at the very corner of the corridor. It was the furthest from both the corridor entrance and the door of the library, and was right next to the windows which opened onto a beautiful view of the field below. On the table was an enormous pile of books, so tall that anyone sitting there would be shielded from immediate view by its shadow. If Lapis was there, Steven was not surprised he did not notice her at first.

He approached the table slowly, not wanting to startle whoever it was who sat there. He had to see if it really was Lapis. As he edged around the corner, he could make out the figure of a girl sitting at the edge of one of the benches around the table. She was holding a notebook in her hand and appeared to be sketching on one of its pages. "Lapis?" Steven asked as he approached. The girl looked up, and the light from the window eluminated her face. Steven recognised her immediately. "Steven, you came," Lapis said, putting down her notebook and drawing meterials. She looked rather surprised and relieved to see him. Steven smiled and walked closer to the bench next to hers. "Yeah, I got your note," he said, holding up the paper in his hands. "That map was really easy to understand. You're good at drawing. You should see my art, its terrible." Lapis could not help but smile at this. "It's not that great," she said. "And I'm sure your art isn't too bad. Do you wanna sit down?"

"Sure," Steven said, taking a seat on the bench close to her. He then continued, "And no, really, I tried drawing a design for a friend's custom T-shirt once, and it was a disaster." "What happened?" Lapis asked with a hint of curiosity. "Well he was selling them and they got popular among the people we knew because the drawing was so bad that it was funny," Steven said. ;How did you feel about that?" Lapis asked. "Honestly," Steven said "it was very annoying. My friend later admitted to kind of enjoying the whole thing. It was embarrassing, the drawing was really bad." "That's not very nice of him," Lapis said. "Yeah, but don't worry, we talked things out and we're good now," Steven said reassuringly. Lapis did not respond to that. She simply stared down at her notebook, which still lay open on the table as though she wasn't quite sure what to say.

"So," Steven began, trying to break the awkward silence that had just fallen between them. "What are you doing here?" He gestured at the table and the surrounding corridor. "I just wanted to be somewhere quiet," Lapis replied. "You know, get away from all the noise of the school? It's quite relaxing, and it allows me to just relax and think." "Don't you get lonely up here all by yourself?" Steven asked. "Well," Lapis said, trailing off. Steven waited, but Lapis did not continue. "Lapis?" he prompted. Lapis appeared to snap out of a trance. "Huh? Oh," she said, gathering herself. "It's nothing," she said. "I'd rather not talk about it." "Ok," Steven said, thinking of a way to change the topic. "Oh hey, are you hungry?" he asked, pulling out the sandwiches from his bag. "I brought us some food from the cafeteria." Lapis looked at the sandwiches in surprise. Steven smiled enthusiastically. "You weren't having lunch in the cafeteria, so I figured I'd bring you something in case you got hungry. Here." He picked up one of the sandwiches and reached over to Lapis. Lapis stretched out a hand to take it, but stopped just short of the sandwich. She still appeared to be in disbelief. "Steven, you didn't have to do that," she said, looking from the sandwich to Steven, as though unsure of how to react to this. "It was no big deal," Steven assured her. "Here, you can take it if you like." He smiled at her reassuringly. "Are you sure?" Lapis asked. "Of course, I brought it for you after all," Steven said. Reaching out her hand, Lapis took the sandwich. "Thank you," she said, beginning to unwrap it. Steven unwrapped his own and began eating. "You know, you weren't at the cafeteria yesterday either," Steven said. "Don't you get hungry since you don't have anything for lunch?" 

Lapis took a bite of her sandwich before answering. "I'm used to it, I skip out on lunchbreak a lot, even back in middle school," she said. "Why?" Steven asked. "To avoid the crowd mostly. Sometimes I would bring snacks from home just in case, but usually I just bare with it. I'd rather miss a meal than be somewhere SHE can find me." Steven lowered his sandwich. "She?" he asked. "Who's she?" Lapis let out a small gasp and put a hand to her mouth. She had not meant to say that much. She had revealed more than she was ready to share. "I:.. It's... No one," Lapis said, but an uneasy expression had crossed her face. She looked nervous, maybe even frightened? Steven rewrapped his sandwich and put it down on the table slowly. He turned to her, concern written all over his face. "Lapis, are you ok?" he asked. Lapis let out a small sigh, but did not answer. "We could talk about something else if you like?" he suggested. "No, it's fine," Lapis said in a resigned tone. Thoughts swirled around her mind. There was no point hiding it anymore, she had already let something slip. Plus, Steven had been very nice to her so far. He seemed like someone she could trust, and she had not felt that way about a person in ages. Of course, there was always the possiblity that she was wrong about Steven and that he could use what she was about to tell him against her. After all, people who could hurt her were everywhere. How was she so sure Steven wasn't going to be one of them? Yet, her instincts told her otherwise. According to them, Steven was a genuine, trustworthy person who had no intentions of hurting her. After a moment, Lapis decided to go with that belief, trusting her instincts rather than the doubts she had learnt to have from past experiences. She sincerely hoped she would not regret her decision. 

Lapis took a deep breath. "Steven, can I trust you?" she asked. Steven nodded. "Sure," he said matter-of-factly. He leaned in a little closer. "What is it?" Lapis hesitated. "I'm going to tell you something, but it has to be between us. No one else can know. Can you do that?" "Of course," Steven said, putting a finger to his lips and making a zipping motion with it. The display got Lapis to smile a little. She let out a small laugh before continuing. "Ok," she said, pausing to gather her thoughts. Steven waited patiently, wondering what Lapis was about to tell him. After a long moment, Lapis spoke. "The thing is, I've been hiding from Jasper." 

"Jasper?" Steven asked, remembering the conversation from yesterday. "Isn't she the person you said I'd rather not meet?" Lapis nodded. "What's she like?" Steven asked. "She started coming after me in middle school," Lapis said. "I don't really remember when or exactly how it started, but she would corner me in the cafeteria every day and lunch and demand stuff from me. I could not be alone. She would follow me and I needed a place to hide." "What did she want with you?" Steven asked. "It's complicated," Lapis said. "That's all I'm gonna say for now. But it was awful, and I just wanted to get away to be on my own. She had a friend with her a lot of the time and well, I had no idea how many others were on her side. People would laugh when she cornered me, some would even take videos..." Her voice cracked a little. Lapis took a deep, shaky breath before continuing. Steven realised that Lapis had broken down in tears. "Through the crowd, I could not see exactly who were there," she said, her voice shaking through her sobs. "I avoided everyone, I shut myself away. I was already a little shy to meet new people, but with this happening just a week or so after I started middle school, I just started avoiding people altogether. I would find a quiet spot, just like this one and surround myself with anything that could hide me from view. I would sketch or draw to pass the time between classes, and head home immediately from the last bell went off. I never trusted everyone and soon, it just felt like everyone was out to get me. I don't remember the last time anyone had been nice to me." She pointed at the sandwich Steven had given her. Sometime during this conversation, she had stopped eating too. "That's why it took me so long to accept it," Lapis explained. "I couldn't believe it was real. And when you came all the way here to meet me today, I couldn't believe it either. No one had ever cared to look for me like that before." She wiped away her tears as she finished her story and sighed, trying to calm herself down.

"What about Peridot?" Steven asked as Lapis regained her composure. She hesitated at the mention of Peridot's name, as though it was related to another painful subject. Slowly, she said, "Peridot is... a different case," "What do you mean?" Steven prompted curiously. "She's..." Lapis began, but trailed off again. Steven waited as she considered her next words. 

"Peridot and I knew each other from middle school," Lapis said. "Oh, is it because you couldn't trust people you met there cause of Jasper and all that?" Steven asked. "That's basically it," Lapis said. "It's a little more complicated than that though. Her case is... different than most." "She seems to realy care about you," Steven pointed out. "I guess," Lapis said. "I'm not really sure though."

"Speaking of Peridot, how did she find you yesterday? Did she know about this place?" Lapis shook her head. "After I left the classroom yesterday, I went to the field separating this highschool from the middle school on the other side. Back when I used to go there, I would sit under one of the tallest trees to relax. Peridot would often find me there and try to talk to me." "But why did you go there if you knew she was going to find you?" Steven asked, confused. "Well, I knew that you wanted to talk to me, I heard you saying that in first period. But after the others invited you to have lunch with them I just... couldn't approach you. I headed off to come to this place, but then I saw Peridot approaching. I didn't want her to know that I found a new spot, so I ran in the other direction to sit underneath the tall tree I had always sat under. When she caught up to me and told me you were looking for her, I felt bad that I didn't stick around. So I wrote you a note and asked Peridot if she could hand it to you. It was risky, as i had no idea if she would read it, but I had to get a message to you somehow so..." "You took that chance," Steven finished. He never realised how much Lapis had wanted this conversation to happen until that moment. Lapis nodded. "Yes, I did. I told her not to read it. I hoped your friendship would be enough to keep her from reading private stuff that was meant for you." "She didn't read it, I promise," Steven said. "After I saw the note, she asked me what it said and I told her it was private." ""Really? What did she say to that?" Lapis asked. "She was pretty chill about it actually," Steven said. "She just shrugged it off and the conversation moved on." Lapis looked relieved. "I'm glad we met today Steven," she said. "Me too," Steven agreed. "You're not as mysterious as everyone says you are." Lapis laughed. "Me? I never really thought of myself as a mysterious person."

They talked to each other for the rest of the lunchbreak, finishing their sandwiches as they did so. Before they knew it, the bell rang, cutting sharply into the silence of their surroundings causing both of them to jump in surprise. "We should go," Lapis said, packing up her things. Steven did the same, his mind still full of the conversation they had just had. Particularly, he considered what she had told him about her past. So Jasper was a bully, and from the looks of it, Peridot and Lapis had some history together that somehow got Lapis to mistrust her more than most other people. Steven wondered if, when the right time came he should ask Peridot about "those days" that she would rather not recall. Perhaps they were related somehow. "Ready?" Lapis asked, shouldering her schoolbag. Steven stood and nodded. 

The two of them walked back together along the corridorrs and down a flight of stairs. Lapis kept glancing left and right nervously, avoiding eye contact with anyone who passed. Just as they were approaching their next classroom, Lapis took Steven's hand and pulled him aside. "Steven," Lapis said in a low voice. "I've never trusted anyone with any of the personal stuff I told you earlier before. Please, promise me..." "I promise," Steven said before she could finish. "If anyone asks, I'll pretend I don't know anything. And if "you know who" asks if I've seen you, I'll say I haven't because a bunch of flying potatoes were chasing me just as you left the classroom or something." Lapis laughed. "Flying potatoes?" "I don't know," Steven shrugged. "Just something random I came up with." She let herself laugh for a few more seconds before she relaxed a bit and gave Steven a genuine smile. "Thank you, Steven," she said. "We should probably go inside." 

She took out a piece of paper and a pen from her pocket and quickly scribbled something down. "If you want to contact me, here's my cellphone number," she said, handing Steven the paper. "Really? Thanks," Steven said pocketing it. "Come on, let's go." 

With that, the two new friends walked together into the classroom. Lapis gave him one more grateful smile before taking a seat at one of the desks. Steven sat down too, looking around for the rest of his friends. "How'd it go?" a voice whispered in his ear. Steven looked in the direction of the voice and saw Peridot leaning towards him from the seat to his left. "Good," Steven said. "I can't say much though." "I understand," Peridot replied, glancing over at Lapis. The latter appeared to be sketching again, but there was a bright smile on her face that was hardly there before. It wasn't a big smile either, it was very suttle, but if one looked closely, she was clearly happy about something. Steven looked over at her too and gave her a thumbs-up. She quickly returned it before going back to her notebook like nothing ever happened. "Wo, you really made an impression on her," Amethyst said, coming into the classroom and sitting on Steven's right. She spread a pile of books and papers on her desk and began to sort through them half-heartedly, trying to locate something in the mess. "I've never seen Lapis so happy before," Pearl said behind Peridot as she cast a disapproving look at the mess on Amethyst's desk. "Amethyst you should really start sorting those out into neat stacks," she said as she watched her friend sort through the huge pile. "What are you looking for anyway?"

"The conversation must have gone well," Garnet said, ignoring the lecture Pearl was giving Amethyst. "It did," Steven replied. "Just like I was saying yesterday, she's really not that bad. In fact, she's really nice actually." Garnet gave a small smile. "I'm glad to hear it," she said.

The teacher for their upcoming lesson entered the room and the chatter died down a little. She looked around the classroom with calculating eyes, taking in everyone and everything in front of her within seconds. She walked over to Amethyst's desk, which had more than a few things cluttered on it. "Do you need these for this lesson?" she enquired, giving the messy pile a disapproving look. Amethyst shook her head. "Then please clear them up," the teacher said firmly. "I'd like you all to be ready for my lessons before I arrive."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you are wondering, no, they are not shipped and they won't be throughout this entire story xD  
> I decided to make it like that because in the show, Steven is the first person to ever be kind to Lapis. In this story it's slightly different, as the others have tried, but Steven is still the first one who managed to get through to her. As for why the others were unsuccessful, well I guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out ;)


	3. Connie

Amethyst lifted the entire pile of books and papers off her desk and quickly placed them under her seat. The teacher saw this but did not comment. She made her way to the front of the classroom and serveyed everyone again. "I am Yellow Diamond and i will be your teacher for this subject," the teacher told everyone. "You may all address me as Miss Yellow." "What kind of a name is Yellow?" Amethyst asked under her breath. Peridot looked over at Amethyst and shook her head vigarously. "What?" Amethyst asked. "Don't make her angry," Peridot cautioned. "May i please have silence?" Yellow Diamond interupted. The two of them quickly turned their attention back to the front of the class. "As I was saying, I will be your teacher for this subject. Before we begin I would like to go over a couple of rules. Rule number 1, no talking when I'm talking, understood?" 

At this point, the classroom had fallen completely silent. Everyone simply nodded in response. "Good," Yellow Diamond said. "The second rule is, as I told your classmate earlier, I expect all of you to be ready for my lessons before I arrive. That includes neat working spaces and the appropriate textbooks open and ready on your desks. Now, do you all have your books with you?"

A russle was heard as almost everyone reached into their schoolbags to pull out the required textbook. Amethyst resumed her search in the pile that was now under her chair. Garnet simply opened the book that was already in front of her. 

"Oh so that's what you were looking for," Pearl mouthed as she placed her book on her desk. Amethyst nodded, looking increasingly fustrated as she tried to locate her book. As she searched, random pieces of paper fell out of the pile and ended up scattered on the floor around her. Finally, after almost five minutes of constant searching, Amethyst extracted her textbook from the now even messier pile. Once she had placed it on her desk, she tried to clear up the mess she had just made with little success. 

"Need some help?" Steven asked as he watched his friend struggle with the mess. "Please," Amethyst replied. Temporarily ignoring Yellow Diamond, who had just started her lesson, Steven bent down and helped Amethyst sweep everything into a rather untidy, but neater ooking pile. "We can sort these out later," he said as he placed the final sheet of paper on top. "Thanks," Amethyst whispered gratefully as she straightened up. "You're welcome," Steven said, doing the same and turning to his textbook. "Are you two paying attention?" Yellow Diamond asked. "What did I say earlier about talking while I'm talking?"

The lesson was a nightmare. Yellow Diamond kept strict tabs on everyone and even threatened detention at one point when something about a student's conduct displeased her. She taught with purpose, holding by a strict set of expectations and guidelines. For the first time since he started studying at this highschool, Steven found himself feeling rather nervous. His classmates weren't doing much better. Lapis in particular appeared more tense than Steven had ever seen her. Her hands trembled a little as she silently copied some notes as Yellow Diamond spoke. All the while, her eyes darted around the classroom nervously and her guard appeared to be up. She looked like she wanted to get up and bolt out of the room as fast as she could, but of course, she could not. At one point, when Yellow raised her voice, Lapis let out a small gasp that went mostly unnoticed. Steven looked over at her in concern, but as Yellow was still speaking, he had to quickly turn back to the front of the classroom before he got caught.

Peridot was not doing much better. She appeared to be shrinking under Yellow Diamond's intense gaze, trying her best not to show exactly how nervous she felt. Once, Yellow asked her a question and she managed to stammer out some sort of answer that caused Yellow Diamond to shake her head in disapproval. Peridot had then proceeded to try to correct herself, but Yellow Diamond cut her off. "That will be all," she had said. "But..." Peridot began, still trying to correct her mistake. "Enough," Yellow Diamond replied firmly. "Turn back to your textbook. I'll be explaining it to you in a moment so please note this down."

All in all, the atmosphere in the classroom was one of constant, silent tention. Yellow had a way of keeping a classroom silent, and her constant reminders to students to be quiet only inhanced the effect. Everyone was relieved when the final bell rang. Peridot was one of the first to stand up from her seat. She watched Yellow Diamond leave the classroom till she disappeared around the corner before nearly falling over with relief. Catching herself at the last moment, Peridot closed her textbook and slid it into her schoolbag before straightening up and turning to face the others.

"She's such a CLOD!" Peridot shouted through gritted teeth loud enough for everyone to hear once she was sure Yellow Diamond was completely out of earshot. 

"No kidding," Lapis said in response. Peridot looked over at Lapis curiously. The latter did not normally say much in response to ANY of Peridot's comments, but this time seemed to be an acception. Lapis appeared to have been just as shaken by the lesson as the others were, even more so if that was possible. She was shaking a little and almost dropped the books she was trying to pack into her bag. Yellow's strict nature was certainly not helping her get over what happened to her back in middle school, Steven thought.

"She gave us two pages of essays to write," Amethyst complained, shoving her books into her bag as well. "i have to admit, she made me nervous too," Steven said. "Hey Lapis, Peridot, are you two ok?" 

Lapis shook her head and picked up her things. "I'll see you tomorrow Steven," she said quietly before making her way out the door. As she did so, she tried her best to look back and give her new friend somewhat of a smile. She didn't want him to worry about her too much. Steven nodded and gave a small smile. "See you tomorrow Lapis," he called after her as she disappeared from view.

Peridot meanwhile was regaining her composure. "Strict teachers," she began through deep breaths. "Aren't our thing." She glanced over at the classroom door where Lapis had just exited from and added, "especially, not hers." After a pause, peridot turned back to Steven, relaxing a little. "You've made quite an impression on her though." she said.

"What do you mean?" Steven asked in confusion. "Well, it's just Lapis has never been this open with anyone before," Peridot explained. "She didn't say that much to me earlier," Steven pointed out, referring to when Lapis had said goodbye to him just a minute ago. 

"The fact that she said anything at all was something," Peridot said. "I'm glad you were able to get through to her at lunch. She was always shy you know, but she's never been the same ever since..." Peridot stopped herself and trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished. 

Steven felt his curiosity take over. "Ever since what?" he asked. Peridot opened her mouth to say something before closing it again. "It's, nothing," she said, turning to check to make sure she had all her things with her. "I should be on my way." 

"Wait," Steven began, but the sound of Amethyst struggling with her things from behind him caught his attention. He turned to her as Peridot got ready to leave. "Hey, need some help with that?" Steven asked. Amethyst looked up at him over the top of the gigantic pile of books and papers in her arms. "Please," she groaned. Deciding to put his questions about Lapis's past to the back of his mind for now, Steven walked over to Amethyst and began helping her sort everything in the pile out into smaller, much neater piles. Pearl, seeing what they were doing came over to help as well, and in ten minutes, the three of them had managed to sort out most of the pile into neat, organized stacks. 

Garnet walked over to join the group, shouldering her schoolbag. "Ready to go?" she asked. "Almost," Amethyst replied, straightening the final stack which consisted mostly of papers she didn't need anymore. "Where are you going?" Steven asked curiously. "Just walking home together," Pearl replied casually. "We do that sometimes even back in middle school."

"Wanna join us Steven?" Amethyst asked. "You're more than welcome."

Garnet smiled and nodded to Steven. "It would be nice to have you on board," she said. "We might even stop by a nearby ice cream shop to get something on the way."

"Sorry guys, I wish I could go," Steven said apologetically. "But I'm gonna have to stay here and wait for Mum. Besides, you guys deserve some time together, just the three of you. You have known each other for years after all." 

"Well ok if you're sure," Amethyst said, packing some more of her textbooks into her bag. "I need to put the rest of these in my locker." "We can stop by the lockers on the way to the school gates," Pearl suggested. "Yeah that works," Amethyst said. "We should get going," Garnet prompted, glancing at the clock on the classroom wall. "We dont wanna stay out too late." "Yes," Pearl agreed. "Let's get going." 

The three of them checked the area to make sure they had everything they needed. Before they left, Pearl put a gentle hand on Steven's shoulder. "Sorry you couldn't come with us today," she said apologetically. "It's ok, really," Steven said. "I'll be fine. You guys have fun!" Pearl smiled, rejoining the others. "We will."

"See you!" his friends cried, waving as they exited the classroom together. "Bye!" Steven called after them, returning the wave. He then walked back to his own desk to pick up his things. The classroom was almost empty now. Almost everyone had left while he had been helping Amethyst.

He shouldered his schoolbag and made his way down to the school field that separated his highschool from the middle school. Students were running around the field at this time of the afternoon. Some had brought skipping ropes or volley balls to play with, while others simply hung around the area to chat. Steven found a quiet spot under a big shady tree and sat down. The tree above shielded him from the glaring afternoon sun and its shade was a relatively cozy place to relax. Steven wondered if this was the tree Lapis had referred to when she used to come here. It was big, and if one went deep enough into its shade, they would not be immediately visible unless someone else crouched down to have a look. Steven moved a few inches closer to the darker part of the shade, leaning back against the tree trunk and breatheing in the fresh air of the field around him. Here, it was much cooler and way more relaxing than where he had previously sat. Before he knew it, his eyelids began to close and Steven found himself drifting off into a peaceful afternoon nap.

A light tap on his shoulder brought him back from dreamland. "Hey are you okay?" an unfemiliar voice asked.

Steven opened his eyes and saw that a girl was crouching over him. She had a book in one hand and a concerned expression on her face. Steven yawned before nodding. "Oh, hi," he greeted, then continued, "Yeah I'm alright. I must have fallen asleep, that's all."

"Oh, good," the girl replied looking relieved. "I was a little worried there for a moment. I was wondering if I should hurry back to my middle school and get a school nurse." 

"No, I'm fine," Steven assured her, straightening up. He had slumpt low onto the tree trunk as he slept. "My name's Steven by the way, what's yours?" he asked, as the girl settled down next to him and opened her book. "Oh, my name's Connie," she said. "Nice to meet you," Steven replied warmly. "What are you doing here?" 

"Just, reading while waiting for my mum," Connie replied casually. "She said she'd be here in a couple hours. She's still at work." 

"I'm waiting for my mum too," Steven told her. "Guess we could wait together." 

"Yeah," Connie said, looking away slowly, turning her attention to her book instead. Was she a little shy? 

"Where are your friends?" Steven asked kindly. Connie looked up from her book. "I, don't really have any," she admitted, turning away again. "I'd rather not think about that though. I am new here so maybe that's..." she stopped and glanced down at her feet. "Nevermind," she sighed, returning her full attention to the book in her hands. 

Steven found himself feeling rather bad for her. After getting to know Lapis earlier today, hearing that someone else wascurrently friendless was just really sad. He decided he was going to try and befriend her, if she wanted it, that is. He tried to think of a common topic they could both talk about. With Lapis, it had been the subject of art that had gotten them started. What were Connie's intereststs? His eyes fell on her book, and Steven got an idea. He took a deep breath. He was going to try and talk to her and see how it plays out. Weather or not she was keen on making friends, he would know soon enough.

"Hey, what book are you reading?" Steven asked, pointing to Connie's book. Connie looked up and turned to face him again. "Oh this? It's just a novel I like," she said. "What's it about?" Steven prompted. Connie thought for a moment. "Well, I guess it's about this person who goes on an adventure to discover truths about their mysterious past," she said. "I can't really say more than that, it'll spoil the story." 

Steven felt a spark of genuine interest. "What happens in it?" 

"It's a lot to explain," Connie said. "It's a really good read though. I guess I would even go as far as recommending it to others if I knew anyone who liked reading." 

"Well I haven't really read much, I'm more of a TV kind of person, but I think I'd be willing to give this book a try," Steven said earnestly. "It sounds interesting." 

"It is," Connie agreed. "It has these cool battle scenes, and emotional ones that just tug at your heartstrings... Ooh, and these cool plot twists you won't see coming! It's amazing! I could go on about it for hours!" The excitement and eagerness in her voice was clearly apparent now.

"It sounds pretty cool," Steven said with genuine interest. Connie smiled. "Would you like me to read it aloud so you could know more about it?" she offered. "We don't have to do it, I just thought..." 

"Sure," Steven replied. "I don't mind." 

Beaming, Connie flipped the book back to its first page and began reading. As she read, any last remaining traces of shyness she might have had appeared to fade away. If she sounded passionate while summarising the story before, it was nothing compared to this. Connie appeared to be absorbed into the words of the book. Passion fuelled each sentence as Connie expressed each scene with emotion. She appeared to be at ease as she read, happy to be able to share this rich, fictional world with someone else. 

Minutes passed, then a quarter of an hour, then half an hour. Steven sat in rapped attention, taking in every word. He had never read a book like this before, he was normally more of a television person. But this story pulled him in just like any good TV show did. Despite not having any pictures to look at, the story captured his imagination and drew him into the fictional world that was being built. 

Soon, the field began to empty as students began to make their way home. A random volley ball was left abandoned in the grass along with several stray basketballs. By half past four, Connie and Steven were the only ones left in the area. And still, Connie kept reading, with Steven listening attentively through each passing chapter. He occationally stopped her to ask a question or two about the book before letting her continue.

Finally, almost two hours from the time they started, Connie stopped to check the time. "It's almost five," she said. "Mum should be here soon." Steven checked the time on his phone too and gasped. "It's getting late," he agreed. "Should we wait at the front of the school?" Connie nodded, marking the page of the book they were at before closing it. She stood and picked up her belongings. "Should we go together?"

They walked across the field and made their way towards the school gates. Despite the two separate school buildings, there was a gate that opened to both entrances. 

"I hope you enjoyed the story," Connie said as they walked. Steven nodded. "It's a really interesting read," he admitted. "I wonder if the school library has a copy. I'd like to borrow one." Connie looked him over curiously. "You've really never read a novel before?" she asked. Steven shook his head. "No," he replied. "This is my first time hearing a story from a novel and it sounds great. I might actually check it out."

Connie smiled. "Well, there are three more books in the series after this one," she said. "So you'll be reading it for a while if you decide to get the books." Then she lit up, as though she just got an idea. "Hey, why don't you take my copy for a bit? You could read it at home and tell me what you think." She held out her book to Steven. "I've already bookmarked the part where we stopped." Steven looked at the book in slight surprise. ;Really?" he asked. "You're letting me have this for a bit?"

"Sure," Connie said. "I have other books at home, and I've read this over five times already. Here." She handed the book to Steven, who took it with a rather excited smile. "Thanks Connie," he said. "I'll take good care of it and get it back to you as soon as I can." "Oh you don't have to hurry," Connie said, "take your time".

They arrived at the front gate and sat together at one of the metal benches in front of it. "So," Connie began. "What does your mum work as?" 

"She's a teacher at my highschool," Steven said. "You go to that highschool?" Connie asked, nodding towards the building in question. "I never would have guessed it. You don't look fifteen." Steven shrugged. "I guess not," he said. "But yeah, I go there. My mum teaches one of my classes." "Wow," Connie said, clearly rather impressed. "My mum works as a doctor in a hospital." 

"What kind of doctor is she?" Steven asked. "Well, I don't really know the exact line of work, but I know she takes care of some of the more serious medical cases and that she's had to perform a few surgeries from time to time," Connie explained. "So it's pretty serious work. My Dad's also got a risky job, he's a cop." 

"My Dad works at a nearby carwash," Steven said. 

"I think I've seen him around before," Connie replied excitedly. "My parents and I go to that carwash sometimes."

Almost on queue, a car could be seen approaching the school from a distance. Connie gasped and pointed it out to Steven. "Speaking of my parents, there's my mum," she said, gathering up her things and rising from the bench.

"Are you leaving now?" Steven asked.

"Not yet, but I'll be going in a moment. It was nice hanging out with you though, we should do it again sometime!" Connie said in response. She appeared to be excited about the idea, with all traces of shyness gone. 

"Yeah," Steven replied enthusiastically. "We totally should!" Then he got an idea. "Hey would you like to exchange phone numbers so that we could keep in touch?" he asked, pulling out his phone from his pocket.

"Of course," Connie agreed, taking hers out as well.

The car pulled up several yards away from them as they exchanged phone numbers. When they were done, Connie shouldered her bag and smiled as she made her way towards it. "I'll see you around Steven!" she called with a wave.

"Bye Connie!" Steven called after her, returning the wave as Connie got into the car. With a final smile, Connie shut the car door and the vehicle began driving away. 

Steven leaned back in his seat with a faint smile on his face. A sense of accomplishment hung in the air as the day's events flashed through his mind. He felt glad that he had successfully made two new friends today, not only that, but perhaps, just maybe he had even helped them come out of their shells at least a little bit. Now all he had to worry about was getting that two page essay for Yellow Diamond done by tomorrow... And the rest of his homework too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yes, these two will be shipped eventually xD


End file.
